Becoming a Student-Ready College

TIA BROWN McNAIR is the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and the Executive Director of TRHT campus centers at AAC&U. She is co-author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk.SUSAN ALBERTINE is the retired Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Student Success at AAC&U. NICOLE McDONALD works as Assistant Vice Provost for Student Success Strategies at the University of Houston. THOMAS MAJOR, JR. is Associate General Counsel at Lumina Foundation. MICHELLE ASHA COOPER is the Acting Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Office of Post-secondary Education.

• Preface xiiiAbout the Authors xviiAcknowledgements xxiChapter One: The Time Is Now: A Call for Student-Ready Colleges 3The Quest for College-Ready Students and Redefining Readiness 10A Profile of Twenty-First-Century Students 16The Science of Student Readiness 22The Value of Student-Ready Colleges and the Emerging School-to-Work Economy 25The Path Forward: Taking Steps to Transformation 29Chapter Two: Leadership Values and Organizational Culture 33New Perspectives on Leadership 37Values and the Student-Ready College 39Does Collaboration Serve a Greater Good or Is It an End in Itself? 41Leadership for Grassroots Empowerment 43Changing Perspective on Educators 47Exemplary Practice: The University of Wisconsin–Whitewater 47Positive Vision of Educators 54Inclusive Professional Development for Everyone Who Teaches 57Student-Ready Practice of Governance 62Building Out the Change Effort 64Exemplary Practice: Alverno College 65A Pragmatic Approach to Shared Governance 69A Vision of a Place Ready for Students 72Conclusion: A Vision to Guide Collaboration 76Chapter Three: Intentionality by Design to Support Student Success 79Intentionality by Design: Centering Equity, Diversity, and Belonging 83Removing Systemic Barriers and Challenges for Students 85A Caring Educator 87Embracing a Paradigm Shift 90A Culture of Belonging 95Defining Student Success as Learning 97Promoting Excellence in Student Engagement 99Charting Your Course of Action 102Conclusion 103Chapter Four: Leveraging Ecosystem Partnerships in Support of Student Readiness 107Engaging the Ecosystem 111A Critical Survival Instinct: The Opportunistic Self-Awareness of Student-Ready Colleges 115Three Levers for Establishing and Aligning Impactful Ecosystem Partnerships 120Student-Centered Symbiosis in Support of Today’s College Students 130Questions to Consider in Establishing and Aligning Ecosystem Partnerships 133Conclusion 139Chapter Five: Educating the Whole Student 143Whole-Person Leadership and Learning 146Belief in Student Capacity to Learn as a Genuine and Public Commitment 150Challenges to Belief in Student Capacity to Learn 154Addressing Deficit-Mindedness 157Sites for Action 165The Wealth That Students Bring 167Institutional Long Views 168Leadership Responsive to the Ecosystem 172Conclusion 178Conclusion 179References 187Index 209